US agency adopts new space junk rules to reduce exploration risk

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 4-0 Thursday to adopt new rules to address the growing risk of orbital debris to space exploration by shrinking time to eliminate satellites that no longer exist.

The FCC voted to require the post-mission phase-out of low-Earth orbit satellites within five years. Previously proposed agency operators of satellites in low Earth orbit ensure the spacecraft’s re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere within 25 years.

“That means more liability and less risk of collisions that increase orbital debris and the potential for space communications failures,” said FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel.

The US telecommunications regulator notes that of the 10,000 satellites deployed since 1957, more than half are no longer operational.

“Defunct satellites, discarded rocket cores, and other debris now fill the space environment, creating challenges for current and future missions.” FCC said, noting that there were more than 4,800 active satellites in orbit as of the end of last year, and the majority of them were commercial satellites in low Earth orbit.

“The second space era has arrived. For it to continue to evolve, we need to do more to clean up after ourselves so that space innovation can continue to respond,” said Rosenworcel.

NASA funded a number of academic studies on space debris, and a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation “to begin developing debris removal technology in USA“FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks noted.

He said the new rule “will bend the curve of debris growth. It will also reduce collisions and free up resources that would otherwise be avoided.”

Starks warned that “without a safe operating environment, debris risk could escalate from a financial hazard to a hazard that makes investors think twice and can complicate works towards slowing or limiting new space effort while increasing the cost per mission.”